Container and replaceable sealing closure therefor



Nov. 2, 1954 A. VISCH ER, JR

- CONTAINER 'AND REPLACEABL E SEALING CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed June 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l W wv Nov. 2, 1954 A, VISCHER, JR

CONTAINER AND REPLACEABLE SEALING CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed June 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIII:

Inn Ill/4441.

kg! (LIZ 4% I 1,693,292 REELACEABEE I CLOSURE THEREFOR Alfred Vischer, Jri, PhrkRidge', I ll. Application June 7, 1951, Serial No. 230,283 4- Claims. er. 2-20-24 My invention relates generally tocontainersand' clos'urcs, and, more particularlyfo' a closure which will. be capable; ofnraintaii in'g a. substantially airtight seal depi e fr qu nt. m val. a d r p ac n I I'iI manY uses of containersgit is desirable to have a closure which may he repeatedly removed and replaced, and yet will; when in use, maintain the container sealed againstadmission or e'scape' of liquids and gases. For example; in containers for liquid and solidrations for life boats, life rafts, and the 1 kl,,il; is highly desirable that the food he kept in a substantially airtight contaiher while it is being stored, and, after some of the contents: have bee n removed, ghat the remaining conbe kept from. spoilage by sea water,. verm in, bac teria, and; like; For this reason thecontainer closure should be capable of frequent removal and re placement without renderin g it incapable of providing an'airtight'cl'osureforthe contaihen I I I I1: is, therefore; the primary object of my invention to provide an' improved: containerand closure in which the contaihei is sealed hy the closure and may be. re peatedly removed and. replaced wi't-hout detriment to s i p' p r i': H

Afurther object is togprovide'; anin' p'roved coiita-iner ciosiire which may be operatedeasily and which will form an-efie'ctive'seai. I I I I i I Arurrhe object is to provide an improved container closhie in which the escape of the contents of the container, or the ingress of atmospheric air, is effectively fre'ventedeven when the pressure within the. cohtaiher differs item that of the atmosphere. I

I Other objects will appear from the fol-lowing descrip. tion, referen'ce being held to the accompanying drawings, in-whiehr II I II I Fig, l" is a fragmentary sectional view of' tli up'p'er portion of ac'o'ntaiiier; showing the closure in' container n p ifi'om.

Pig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional, View, taken onthe line 2 -2 of Fig; I I I Fig. 3 is afragmentary sectional yiew or a modified form of the invention, in which the closure seals the cam-amela'g'ainst ihternalf and external pressures; Fig. 4 is a fragm'eiita' sectional view or a second modified forinof the' ihventron; I

' Fig; id is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the emhbdimeiit illustrated in Fig. 4'; and

Fig; 5{ is a fragmentary sectional" view bf a third mod ifie'd' forrii of chhta-in'erand closu-iez I I II f iher 10, which may-be of any desired sha j d as having a cylindrh ,& '1 neck portion 12 which is welded to the body of the container; The conta er I0: may he of any size, being either of the same diameter as the neck 12, or" of larger diameter, and of desired height: l "ht=,{neck porti on '12 is provided at its upper edge with an inturncd horizontal flange 124, the upper extremity of the neck portion being rolled into 'agenerally round; hollow head 161:0 reinforce the flange. I4, to rend'er then'eck 12. more rigid. and to improve its appearance, Weldechto the ihterio'r' of the neck portion. 12,. beneath the flange 14, is a ring 18 having an internally" projecting flange 20 terminating in. a U-shaped. annular groove portion 22. The groove portioriZZ provides a seat for an annular torrcgidal shaped gasketwhich may-,*. to. insure;- greater compressibility; be. hollow, that is; in the: form. of a thickawalletltuhe; The gasket. 2'4 be molded as. a complete ringer a suitable length thereof may he placed 1 before its eccentric 38 will' in; the groove in such manner that the gasket is under slight longitudinal compression, so that the ends there of will be. resiliently maintained in abutment, with each other and'form a'flu-idtigh'tseal. I I I The container closure comprises a cover 26, of the construction shown in my prior patent No. I2,28-'2';,0.l1, having a. peripheral inturned somewhat elliptical bead 28 for reinforcement and for, engagement with the inwardlyfacing surface of the. flange 14. The cover 26 is preferably' made of a relatively hard stainless steel or similar sheet metal, and is formed so; as to have. in;- ternal stresses which cause it to assume a warped shape when no constraining: forces are applied thereto. However, it is; snfiicient'y flexible that it may be forced manually, without substantial eflfortg to assume shape in which it is' shownin Fig. 1', that is, substantially a sector of'a spherical. surface. I I II I The. cover is provided-with a shouldered. rivet 31). at its center. The inner end of the rivet extends through the cover 26, andis peened over to provide a head 32'. The rivet also has a portion 34 of increased diameter to hold in place a rotatable actuatorcomprising a knurled knob 36.. An eccentric 38 is. formed integrally with the knob 36 and is locatedwithin. a hole. 40 formed in a crossbar 42 which is guided for longitudinally sliding. movement on apair of shouldered and headed rivets 4'4 secured in the cover 26 near the ends of the cross bar; the rivets extending through suitable, elongated slots 46 formedin the crossbar so asto prow'de guides for the, longitudinalmovement of the latter. It will be noted (Fig. 2) that the hole 40,i's ..o f such conformation that the knob 36' canrotateonly. through substantially abut against the edges of the hole 40;. I The necessity of providing other limit- ;st n isth sob o Theextremities of the cross bar 42 are provided'with upturnedflanges 4B f'orming contact portions or abutments for engagemeht with the bead .16; I The. overall length of the.cre ss bar 42 i s substantially the same as theinternal diameter; of the bead- 1-6' and somewhat; less h the diameter of the cover 26; The cross bar 42 mounted along the diameter at which the cover' no'r arp's; and thus doesnot interfere with the war-p ing action; of the cover. Thiswarpi-ng action is more fully disclosed in my said Patent No. 2,282,011..

As previously indicated, the cover is of warpedshape when it is free from restraining forces, so that a projcction ofits: peripheral edge on a horizontal, plane will be in the form substantially of an ellipse, the major axis of which is somewhat greater and the minor axis of which is slightly less than the internal diameter of the head 16. Due to this fact, the edgerof the cover near one end of the major axis, theaxi's of flexure, may be inserted inthe groove formed between the flanges 14 and 20, the insertion being made further than indicated in Fig. I sothat the peripheral edge of the cover 26 at the m ajor'axis abuts against the internal cylindrical wall of the neck portion 12 Whenthus partially inserted, the eoverr'nay be forced to assume the shape in which it isshown in Fig. 1 by a downwardly and leftwardly directed force on the. button 36; Duringsuch applicat ion of downward and left ward pressure, incremental portions of the peripheral edge of the cover'26- slide be neath the. flange 14 until all of" the. surface. of the lower peripheral edge is in contact with: the gasket 24:. When in this position, the cover 26 would, due to its internal stresses, tend to reassume its warped shape, and thus. have a portion of it spring from the confinement provided Between the flanges 14 and 20. It is, therefore, necessary to shift the cover 26 laterally (to the,right) 1 in the direction of the cross bar 42 until the cover is'centered with respect to the bead 16. This isflacc omplished by rotating the lmob 36,, thereby, through the eccentric 38, moving the crossbar 42 longitudi l y, andv causing its upturnedf end flange 48th press against. the internal. surface or the e tle u tl a ts sliding; h lse r 26 IQ is en e 995 1 tw l b e al hat s p t s ama tric 38 is prevented from further rotation by virt I-Ie; of the shapeof the. hole,- 40; In, this. position there issubstantial friction between the eccentric 38 and. the; walls 3 of the hole 40 so that accidental rotation of the knob 36 is prevented.

The space between the gasket 24 and the downwardly facing surface of the flange 14 is such that some compression of the gasket is required to permit the insertion of the bead 28 within this space, and as a result a water and airtight seal is effected between the gasket 24 and the downwardly facing surface of the peripheral portion of the cover 26.

When it is desired to remove the cover 26 from the container, it is necessary merely to rotate the button 36 counterclockwise (Fig. 2), thereby causing the cover 26 to be moved to the left due to the engagement of the eccentric 38 in the hole 40, and causing the right-hand (Fig. 1) end portion of the cover 26 to be slid leftwardly so that its peripheral bead 28 is no longer beneath the flange 14. When in this position, the cover will tend to reassume its warped shape, provided a downward force is not applied to the knob 36, so that the cover may be easily removed from the container by sliding it upwardly toward the right (Fig. l).

The container closure described above provides an effective seal even if a partial vacuum exists inside the container. The closure may be modified as shown in Fig. 3 to provide an effective seal whether the pressure in the container is greater or less than atmospheric pressure. In this modification the neck portion 12 is turned inwardly at its upper edge to form a U-shaped 1 bead 50 for receiving a second torroidal shaped gasket 52 which faces inwardly. The gasket 52 may be retained inside the bead 50 by the resiliency of the gasket or may be bonded to the bead 50.

Insertion of the cover 26 between the gaskets 24 and 52 compresses both of the gaskets so that the container is sealed whether it internal pressure is greater or less than atmospheric. If the pressure within the container 10 is .greater than atmospheric, the cover 26 is forced against the inwardly facing gasket 52 but if the pressure inside the container is less than atmospheric the cover is forced against the outwardly facing gasket 24.

Another modification of the container closure is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 4a. In this case a sheet metal container 60 has an S-shaped neck portion 62 for retaining a sheet metal ring 64 having a J-shaped crosssection. The upper edge of the sheet metal container 60 is turned inwardly to form a flange 66 and then outwardly to form a circular bead 68. A gasket 70 is bonded to the upper surface of the edge of the cover 26 and the edge is turned upward to form a flange-72.

The cover is inserted between the sheet metal ring 64 and the inwardly directed flange 66 to seal the container. The insertion of the cover 26 into the groove between the ring 64 and the flange 66 compresses the gasket 70 and forces the lower surface of the edge of the cover 26 into firm, intimate contact with the upper surface of the ring 64. The container 60 thus is tightly sealed even if the pressure inside the container is considerably greater than atmospheric pressure.

Fig. 5 illustrates another modified form of the container closure. A thin walled container 84 has a neck portion 82 which has an S-shaped cross-section for retaining an internal ring 84 having an L-shaped crosssection. An inwardly extending flange portion '86 of the ring 84 and the upper edge of the container 80, which is turned inwardly and slightly downwardly to form a flange 88, provide lower and upper walls of a dovetail groove for receiving the edge of the cover 26. The gasket 70 is bonded to the edge of the cover 26 and in this respect the cover has the same construction as illustrated in Fig. 4. Insertion of the cover 26 through the narrow neck portion of the groove between the flanges 86 and 88 compresses the gasket 70. As the edge of the cover 26 moves further into the groove the gasket expands slightly because the groove is somewhat wider at its base than at its neck. When the cover 26 is removed, the gasket 70 is again compressed for passage through the narrow neck of the groove. Thus the groove between the flanges 86 and 88 tends to retain the cover 26 in centered position. The use of a groove having a narrowed neck portion tends to prevent accidental movement of the cover which might inadvertently break the seal formed by the container closure.

Except for the above described variations in the edge portions of the cover, the cover construction of the modifications illustrated in Figs. 3-5 is the same as described in detail in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. In all of the illustrated container closures, the cover is inserted in the same way as described above.

While I have shown and described preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that numerous variations and modifications thereof may be made without departing from the underlying principles of the invention, I, therefore, desire by the following claims to include within the scope of the invention all such variations and modifications by which substantially the results of my invention may be obtained through the use of substantially the same or equivalent means.

I claim:

1. In a closable container, the combination of means defining a circular container opening, means on the container adjacent said opening defining an annular groove opening radially inward, a flexible circular cover having a peripheral edge received in said groove and having a diameter larger than said opening, said cover being internally stressed so as to have a residual warp about a diametrical axis thereof to facilitate its insertion into and removal from said groove, a cover sliding member having a length equal to the diameter of the container opening mounted on said cover for movement generally along said diametrical axis of warp and having container contacting abutments thereon at the ends thereof extending substantially above the top of the cover and engaging said means defining the container opening at loci above the cover, and an actuator connected to said cover sliding member and movably anchored to said cover for moving said sliding member container contacting abutments radially in relation to the cover to shift said cover sidewise by the reaction of the actuator and said sliding member on the container.

2. In a closable container, the combination of means defining a circular container opening, means on the container adjacent said opening defining an annular groove opening radially inward, a flexible circular cover having a peripheral edge received in said groove and having a diameter larger than the inner diameter of said groove, said cover being internally stressed so as to have a residual warp about a diametrical axis thereof to facilitate its insertion into and removal from said groove, a gasket mounted to form a tight seal between one side edge of said groove and the adjacent marginal edge of said cover when the latter is disposed within said groove, a cover sliding member having a length equal to the diameter of the container opening mounted on said cover for movement generally along said diametrical axis of warp and having container contacting abutments thereon at the ends thereof extending substantially above the top of the cover and engaging said means defining the container opening at loci above the cover, and an actuator connected to said cover sliding member and movably anchored to said cover for moving said sliding member cover contacting abutments radially in relation to said cover to shift the latter sidewise by the reaction of said actuator and said sliding member on the container.

3. In a closable container of the character described, the combination of means defining a circular container opening, means on the container adjacent said opening defining a narrow annular groove opening radially inward, a flexible circular cover having its peripheral edge received in said groove and having a diameter larger than said opening, said cover being internally stressed so as to have a residual warp about a diametrical axis thereof to facilitate its insertion into and removal from said groove, a cover sliding bar longitudinally movably mounted on said cover and extending along said diametrical axis of warp thereof, said sliding bar having a length equal to the diameter of the container opening and having its ends formed with container contacting abutments engaging said means defining the container opening at loci above the cover, and a bar actuator connected to said bar and rotatably anchored to said cover to shift said bar radially along the cover for sliding said cover sidewise by the reaction of the container on said bar and said actuator.

4. In a closable container of the character described, the combination of means defining a circular container opening, means on the container adjacent said opening defining a narrow annular groove opening radially inwardly, a flexible circular cover having its peripheral 1 edge received in said groove and having a diameter larger said cover being internally stressed so one dlametncal ax1s than said opening, as to have a residual warp about thereof to facilitate its insertion into and removal from said groove, a cover sliding bar having an upstanding flange at each end and slidably mounted on said cover along said diametrical warp axis thereof and having a length substantially equal to the inner diameter of said groove defining means, and an eccentric actuator rotatably anchored to said cover and engageable with said bar for shifting the latter in opposite directions, to slide said cover sidewise by the reaction of the container transmitted to said cover through said bar and said actuator.

References Cited in the file of this patent Number 5 1,267,284 1,599,652 2,011,406 2,373,620 2,412,872 10 2,458,380 2,628,739

Number 15 281,312 260,266

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Shanahan May 21, 1918 Cranston Sept. 14, 1926 Hiltner Aug. 13, 1935 Vischer, Jr. Apr. 10, 1945 Clark, Jr. Dec. 17, 1946 Horvath I an. 4, 1949 Vischer, Jr Feb. 17, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Dec. 30, 1914 Switzerland July 16, 1949 

